Dr Maurice M. Mizrahi B”H D’var on Bechukkotai

Komemiyyut – Standing Tall, Erect and Prominent

In this week’s Torah portion, Bechukkotai, we see a word that appears only :(קֹומְמִ ּיּות) once in the Torah. That word is komemiyyut

אֲנִִ֞יִ֞יְהוָָ֣הִ֞אֱלֹֽהֵיכֶֶ֗ םִ֞אֲשֶֶׁ֨ רִ֞הֹוצֵֵ֤אתִ יִ֞אֶתְ כֶם֙ ִ֞מֵאֶ ָ֣רֶ ץִ֞מִצְר ַ֔ יִםִ֞מִֹֽהְ יֹֹּ֥ תִ֞לָהֶ ֶ֖םִ֞עֲבָדִ ִ֑ יםִ֞וָאֶשְ בֹּר֙ ִ֞ מֹּטָֹּ֣ תִ֞עֻלְכֶַ֔ םִ֞וָאֹולְֵֹ֥ךִ֞אֶתְכֶ ֶ֖םִ֞קֹֽ ֹומְמִ ּיֹֽ ּות׃

I am the Lord your God who brought you out from the land of the Egyptians to be their slaves no longer, who broke the bars of your yoke and made you walk komemiyyut. [Leviticus 26:13]

It also appears in the siddur, in the prayer Ahava Rabbah, recited before the Shema in the service:

Vehavienu leshalom me-arbah kanfot ha’aretz vetolichenu komemiyyut l’artzenu.

May You bring us together from the four corners of the earth, leading us komemiyyut to our land.

We find it also in , the Grace After Meals:

Harachaman Hu yishbor alenu me'al tzavarenu v’Hu yolikhenu komemiyyut le-artzenu.

The compassionate One! May He break the yoke of oppression from our necks and guide us komemiyyut to our land.

What does the word mean? If a word appears only once in the Torah, we cannot be sure of its meaning, because we cannot compare it to its other appearances.

1 In Sifra, an ancient halachic midrash from Talmudic days, we learn that komemiyyut means "erect" [Sifra on Bechukkotai 3:7]. It is quoted as such by Rashi, who made that interpretation near-universal. The 1948 Israeli War of Independence is sometimes referred to as milchemet ha-komemiyyut – the war in which we were finally able to walk erect after 2000 years. It was Ben Gurion’s favorite name for it.

One problem with this interpretation is that the prohibits walking in an upright and haughty manner:

אמרִ֞רביִ֞יהושעִ֞בןִ֞לויִ֞אסורִ֞לאדםִ֞שיהלךִ֞ארבעִ֞אמותִ֞בקומהִ֞זקופה

Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi says: It is prohibited for a person to walk even four cubits with an upright posture [considered arrogant], because it says in Isaiah: ְמ ֹ֥לֹּאִ֞ ָכל־ ָה ָ ֶ֖א ֶרץִ֞ ְכבֹו ֹֽדֹו׃ The entire earth is full of [God's] glory [Isaiah 6:3]. [Kiddushin 31a]

Presumably, he means that by walking erect (meaning haughtily) one insults the honor of God, Who is everywhere.

On the other hand, elsewhere in the Talmud, in commenting on the word komemiyyut specifically, Rabbi Meir says:

[In the future, the Jewish people will be] 200 cubits [tall], equivalent to two [times the] height [komot] of Adam, the first man. [Bava Batra 75a]

He sees the word as coming from koma, meaning height, and me’at, akin to hundreds.

I personally don't think Rabbi Meir is talking about physical height, but rather about importance, achievement, influence.

Also, it is impossible for a man to be 200 cubits tall and present the same characteristics as a man, because the universe is not invariant under a change of scale. For example, consider a cube with sides one foot long and weighing one pound. The pressure on its base is one pound per square foot. If you double its dimensions, so each side is two feet, it will weigh eight pounds, for a base of only four square feet. The pressure on

2 its base is now TWO pounds per square foot. If you triple its dimensions, it will weigh 27 pounds, for a base of only nine square feet. The pressure on its base is now THREE pounds per square foot.

So, if a man could grow in size while retaining the aspect and proportions of a man, he would feel heavier and heavier until he could no longer stand. Small insects have long, spindly legs because they are small. They would crash to the ground if you could increase their dimensions while retaining their proportions. Likewise, large animals (such as gorillas, whales, elephants or dinosaurs) have very large ovoid bodies and very small, but powerful, limbs.

So, does komemiyyut mean erect or tall? They are different. You can be erect but not tall, or tall but not erect. Or does it really mean important, prominent, influential, highly productive, as we Jews are and will continue to be? As the Talmud says when it cannot resolve an issue: Teku – Let it stand.

Shabbat shalom.

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